Grader



Fgb. 23, 1943. E. w. LOWDERMILK GRADER Filed March 13, 1941 A'r'T'nDNA-v Patented F eb. 23, 1943 UNETED stares-"rarer ea les 4Claims.

This invention relates to a grader for finishing the banks of fills orcuts in the building of roadways and has for its principal object thepro vision of a simple, highly efficient device which can be quickly andeasily attached to any suit-' able vehicle so as to extend eitherdownwardly or upwardly at the side of the vehicle for the purpose ofsmoothing and filling the banks of cuts and fills along the roadway.

Another object is to so construct the device that the desired angle ofthe bank can be accurately preset by the operator so that the bank willbe cut to an accurate finished angle.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a device of thischaracter which can be attached to the arm of a road machine of thebulldozer type so that the operator can regulate the operating angle ofthe invention by use of the regular bulldozer controls; and to soconstruct the device that it cannot twist about its longitudinal aXiswhen in use so that an absolutely accurate and smooth bank will beobtained regardless of soil conditions.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of theinvention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efiiciency.These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention reference is hadto the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numeralsrefer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout thedescription.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a rear view of a typical grader of the bulldozer typeillustrating the invention in place thereon as it would appear whenfinishing the bank of a roadway fill;

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof; and Fig. 3 is a detail perspective Viewof the attachment hinge and pivot.

In the drawing a typical road tractor is illustrated at Hi withits-bulldozer blade at H and its dozer arm at l2. A tractor so equippedis called a bulldozer and is employed for pushing earth, rock, etc. bymeans of the blade II. The dozer arms I2 carry the blade at theirforward extremities and extend rearwardly to suitable pivots [3. Thetractor is equipped with two cable reels 26 at the rear driven from thetractor engine through suitable control transmissions. It is alsoequipped with an overhead frame 28. The bulldozer blade I l is raisedand lowered by means of a cable 35 extending from the blade II oversuitable sheaves on the frame 28 to one of the drums 26. Therefore, theangle of the dozer arms and the height of the blade II is always withincontrol of the operator. This invention makes use of the dozer arms [2and thereby obtains the advantage of the operators control of thesearms.

The invention comprises a drag frame consisting of two longitudinallyextending drag beams 14 held in rigid, spaced, parallel relation bymeans of intermediate frame members IS. The drag frame is fixedlyconnected at one extremity to a table plate It which is pivoted on ahinge plate I! by means of a suitable pivot bolt Ill; The bolt l8 clampsthe table plate It and the;

hinge plate I! together so that they cannot rotate or twist about thelongitudinal axis of the;

drag frame.

The hinge plate I! is hingedly connected to an angle member 3! by meansof a'suitable hinge% The angle member liesi outer extremity about thehinge bolt 20 and it can be swung forwardly and backwardly about If theoperator raises or lowers the blade II, the incline of the? dozer armsl2 will be changed and the axis of." the hinge bolt 26 will be tilted. 3

The drag frame is prevented from swinging the axis of the pivot bolt 18.

rearwardly beyond a predetermined angle by means of a tie cable 22 whichextends from a connection with the frame of the dozer blade llrearwardly and outwardly through rings 23 on the drag members [4terminating in a terminal loop 24. The loop 24 is slipped over any oneof a plurality of projecting pins 25 on the rearward drag member l4.Thus, by changing the position of the loop 24 on the pins 25, theoperating angle of the drag frame can be varied. The vertical angle orbite of the drag frame to accommodate any operating angle, is constantlyunder the control of the operator of the bulldozer ID through.

his control of the dozer arms l2.

An A-shaped hoist boom 30 is hinged on suitable hinge ears 31 projectingfrom the upper side of the angle member 3|. The hoist boom 30 issupported at an outwardly inclined angle by means of a fixed cable guy32. A lifting cable 2'! is extended from the second drum 26 aboutsuitable sheaves 29 on the frame 28, around a sheave 33 at the apex ofthe hoist boom 30, outwardly and downwardly about a sheave 34 on thedrag frame, thence back to a fixed connection on the.

hoist boom 30. Thus, it can be seen that the operator can by operationof the second drum 26 raise or lower the outer extremity of the dragframe.

The cable guy 32 is secured at its two extremities adjacent the frontand back of the overhead frame 28. Intermediate its extremities thiscable passes through a sheave or ring 38 on the hoist boom 30 to supportthe latter. This arrangement allows the upper extremity of the hoistboom to swing forward and back with the movements of the dozer arm l2without affecting the supporting function of the cable 32.

The use of the device is believed to be clearly apparent from the abovedescription. When forming the side slopes of fills, the drag frame islowered to the specified angle of the fill and the bulldozer is drivenalong the roadway above as shown in Fig. 1. The operator can change theincline of the drag frame to cause it to cut more earth or to dumpcollected earth by simply raising or lowering the bulldozer blade Hwhich changes the horizontal angle of the drag frame I4. .Should theslope being finished be shorter than the length of the drag frame, theeffective length thereof can be shortened by simply changing theposition of the cable 22 on the pins 25 to allow the frame to swingfurther rearward so as to approach more closely the side of the road.

The device is similarly used for smoothing the inclined banks in roadwaycuts for which use it is elevated to an upwardly extended angle at theside of the bulldozer.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described andillustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may bevaried, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

' Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desiredsecured by Letters Patent is:

1. A roadside grading attachment for tractors comprising: an attachmentmember; means for attaching said member to a tractor; a substantiallyhorizontally disposed, elongated hinge on said member; a flat hingeplate extending from said hinge; a fiat table plate resting against saidhinge plate; a single pivot bolt clamping said two plates together; adrag member secured to and projecting from said table plate; a hoisthingedly mounted on and arising from said attachment member; a guy cableattached at its extremities to said tractor; means on said hoistslidably engaging said guy cable to support the hoist yet allowing freeforward and back movement thereof; hoisting means extending from saidhoist'to said drag member to raise or lower the latter about the axis ofthe hinge; and adjustable means for limiting the rearward swing of saiddrag member about the axis of said pivot bolt.

2. A roadside grading attachment for a bulldozer of the type havingvertically swinging dozer arms comprising: an attachment member; meansfor attaching said member to a dozer arm of said bulldozer; a universalhinge on said member; a drag member hinged at its inner extremity onsaid universal hinge; a hoist boom mounted on and arising from saidattachment member; hoisting means extending from said hoist boom to saiddrag member to raise or lower the latter about the axis of the hinge;means for limiting the rearward swing of said drag member about the axisof said hinge; a cable secured at its forward and rearward extremitiesadjacent the forward and rearward extremities of said bulldozer; and acable engaging member carried by said hoist boom and movably engagingsaid cable .to support the hoist boom yet allowing free forward and backmovement thereof along said cable as said dozer arm is raised andlowered.

3. A road side drag attachment for the dozer arm of a bulldozer of thetype described comprising: two longitudinally extending drag beams;means for holding said beams in fixed parallel relation; a table platefixed to andprojecting from said beams at their inner extremity; a hinge,plate; a pivot member securing said hinge plate against said'tableplate; an elongated hinge extending across the inner edge of said hingeplate; a vertical plate hingedly mounted along said hinge and risingtherefrom; means for clamping said vertical plate against the outer faceof said dozer arm; a horizontal flange along the upper edge of thevertical plate overlying the upper face of said dozer arm to maintainsaid hinge parallel with said dozer arm so that it will follow themovements of the latter; and means for maintaining said drag beams atany desired vertical and horizontal angle.

4. A road side drag attachment for the dozer arm of a bulldozer of thetype described comprising: two longitudinally extending drag beams;means for holding said beams in fixed parallel relation; a table plateto and projecting from said beams at their inner extremity; a hingeplate; a pivot member securing said hinge plate against said tableplate; an elongated hinge extending across the inner edge of said hingeplate; a vertical plate hingediy mounted along said hinge and risingtherefrom; means for clampingsaid vertical plate against the outer faceofsaid dozer arm; a horizontal flange along the upper edge of thevertical piate overlying the upper face of said dozer arm to maintainsaid hinge parallel with the dozer arm so that it will follow themovements of the latter; hinge members on said flange; an A-shaped hoistboom arising from said latter hinge members; a guy supporting said boomat an outwardly inclined angle; a cable extending from said boom tosupport the outer extremity of said drag beams; and means for limitingthe rearward swing of said drag beams.

ELBERT W. LOWDERMILK.

